« Which Cell Phone Accessories Do You Really Need?
Get Yourself A Motorola Bluetooth Headset »

What In The World Are Unlocked Cell Phones?

You may be wondering what unlocked cell phones are and how you can tell if yours is, or perhaps you’re interested in some suggestions on how to get an unlocked cell phone. Simply put, if you have an unlocked cell phone it can be used with more than one wireless service provider.

New Unlocked US P168+ GSM PDA Cell Phone AT&T T-Mobile
US $157.95
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:13:05 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $157.95
Buy it now | Add to watch list

HB758 TV Tri-BAND CELL MOBILE PHONE 3.0M CAM UNLOCKED
US $155.99
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:20:30 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $155.99
Buy it now | Add to watch list

A008 UNLOCKED TRI-BAND MOBILE CELL PHONE BLUETOOTH MP4
US $84.75
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:20:57 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $84.75
Buy it now | Add to watch list

HB758 TV Tri-BAND CELL MOBILE PHONE 3.0M CAM UNLOCKED
US $155.99
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:26:11 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $155.99
Buy it now | Add to watch list

NEW Unlocked PDA P168+ GSM US Cell Phone T-Mobile AT&T
US $113.50 (11 Bids)
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:30:00 PDT
Bid now | Add to watch list

A008-S UNLOCKED TRI-BAND MOBILE CELL PHONE BLUETOOTH
US $110.00
End Date: Wednesday Aug-27-2008 23:34:00 PDT
Buy It Now for only: US $110.00
Buy it now | Add to watch list

For many years, cell phone service providers such as Cingular and others have offered free or low cost cell phones if the customer commits to a one or two year contract for their wireless service. However, the cell phone service providers don’t want to give away free unlocked cell phones only to have it used with another service provider, so they have the cell phone manufactures program or design the phones to be “locked” so they only work with their service.

So, how do you tell if you have an unlocked cell phone? First, you must find out if your phone is a GSM phone or a CDMA phone, which is easy to figure out. If the phone uses a SIM card (a tiny plastic data card that fits inside the phone), it’s a GSM phone and if it doesn’t have the little card, it’s a CDMA phone. Both CDMA and GSM phones are usually “locked” by the service provider, however, unlocked GSM phones are much more easily swapped between other GSM service providers.

The two largest GSM wireless service providers are AT&T and T-mobile. Working with any other SIM card, GSM unlocked cell phone can still make calls. While other more advanced features might not be enabled on the new network.

CDMA cell phones are a bit different because they don’t come with a SIM card and the phone has to be activated by a service provider in order to operate properly. This normally involves hooking up the phone to a computer equipped with the special service software needed to activate the cell phone. So, if you don’t have easy access to the software, your cell phone is pretty much locked to the service provider for which it’s programmed.

How can I get unlocked cell phones? In the fall of 2006, the Library of Congress determined that the consumer has the right to unlocked cell phones. It’s not too difficult to find an online company to unlock a cell phone by doing a search on the internet or eBay. Some companies can unlock cell phones remotely, but for others you have to send them your phone. If you are shopping for a cell phone on eBay, find one that’s already unlocked.

Tags: , , ,

Comments are closed.